[spoil]
[align=left]So Ahsoka leaves the order - it was one of the few realistic end results for the character and probably the most logical considering Anakin doesn't talk about her, it adds to his disillusionment of the Jedi Order and they probably want to crank out Ahsoka stories for some time. It's now very likely she survives Order 66.

As for Barriss, her speech obviously is meant to reinforce the notion that the Jedi are evil, paving the way for public angst against them[/align]
[/spoil]

Now for half of next week's episode we're going to get a cliched mock trial where the dialogue is going to be a bit of a rehash of what took place during the second part of the arc. I hope I'm wrong, but it seems the conclusion will be predictable:

Anakin will find out who was behind the plot with the help of Ventress while Ahsoka sits in court defending herself. At the very last minute, before the hammer comes down on Ahsoka there will be a climax that reveals the true traitor.

[spoil]I always assumed ever since the movie that Ahsoka would either be passed onto another Master or leave the Order (instead of being killed or whatever), but never thought she would leave on her own.[/spoil]

Now the big question: what will happen to the series? There are still many loose ends to be resolved.

Very emotional ending, from the expressions on Anakin's and Ahsoka's faces, to the muted end credits music. LFL even withheld the R2-D2 beeping on the closing title screen. Although there are loose ends that could be wrapped up, I felt an enormous sense of closure with this epsiode.

I love this show, but I feel like that should be the end--which I didn't think at all before watching this episode. Ahsoka's whole arc as a Jedi seems complete and satisfying...but I'd love to see more stories of her post-Jedi life.

This is probably the only time when the series have really surprised me. That was a really great ending to her story, but I hope she will return at some point, as a background character or someone getting involved in a story. I hope the series will continue and keep delivering such great episodes.

I'm pondering, since they're getting close to the begining of ROTS, that they're using this to pull us away from the Anakin/Obi story (and not step on continuity) and give us an option to live on with Ashoka and Assajj. If they pull that way, we could have several more successful seasons.

I'm pondering, since they're getting close to the begining of ROTS, that they're using this to pull us away from the Anakin/Obi story (and not step on continuity) and give us an option to live on with Ashoka and Assajj. If they pull that way, we could have several more successful seasons.

I thought about that. Especially because this series doesn't quite trample the 2003-05 cartoon, but it comes pretty close to rewriting the script.

Will the show end literally where ROTS begins (like the first show did)? I don't think Filoni will make the last few episodes deal with the siege of Coruscant.

If the show were to end here, I think it's a fitting conclusion - I don't really need any more answers about Ahsoka. I can infer she survives and that they'll probably make a new show where she's involved. We get why the Republic is beginning to distrust the Jedi and why their "betrayal" and ultimate destruction in Episode III comes as less of a shock to the Senate. The show has also given us a terrific character arc for Ventress and why she's not around during ROTS (and how she probably survives). The only real "loose end" created by the show now is Maul.

So I really haven't kept up with the series over the years but I thought that was one of the best half hours of animation I've seen in a while. The final moments with Anakin and Ahsoka were perfect. And that music, with the call back to Binary Sunset...

The resolution did feel a bit truncated but I think that's more a result of the limited TV time each episode gets than sloppy storytelling. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the series going forward.

I think this was a perfect end and a great way to segue into ROTS but I wouldn't be surprised if we get more stuff from the Clone Wars in the form of direct-to-video releases or a web series since we know work on future episodes has already been done. Either way, season 6 has to be the last hurrah for this series, right?

Man, been following the series since the theatrical movie in 2008. I've watched every episode either as it aired for the first time or soon after its premiere via download. This series has really grown on me and following it all the way through as I have has caused me to savor the artful trajectories and arcs of some of its characters.

I remember when Ahsoka used to be that annoying, bubbly, naive apprentice and how many fellow viewers complained about her existence. But I can now really see the dramatic gradation in her character throughout the series. She's been through a lot.

What a sad but mature way to end this season and prepare for what seems like the final season of the series. Although the ending was pretty much deduced and spoiled in the last episode's thread, I was genuinely stunned by the last few minutes of this episode.

I can't wait to see what Filoni and crew have in store for us in season 6.

This episode was great. I agree with other members that Barriss' speech at the court was well done by the writers. I cannot help, but shake my head throughout the episode when the Jedi Council was talking.

I kinda chuckled a little at the end when they invited Ahsoka back into the Jedi Order because I saw it like "Whelp, wasn't that awkward? Err... umm... you now have permission to come back. Lets just pretend this didn't happen, k?". The look on Anakin's face when Ahsoka declined the offer was well animated. You can feel for the guy that his Padawan, friend, and little sister was not coming back into the Jedi Order.

I REALLY wished Luminara made an appearance though... but I guess we can assume she was off fighting against the Separatists.

CoGro wrote:

The only real "loose end" created by the show now is Maul.

I dunno. I find other things that should be resolved too such as:

Rex: The series was not planned during the development and filming of RotS, but Anakin can simply say that Rex was transferred to Kamino to be a training instructor or he is off fighting the Separatists with his detachment unit from the 501st.

Bo Katan & Mandalore: A civil war was going on when we last left off on. It would be nice to see the outcome. What if Bo Katan became the new Duchess?

Boba Fett: Hondo has the Slave 1 and Boba got captured and tricked by Assajj at the end of that one episode.

Zillo Beast: Palpatine ordered it to be cloned, soooo what is after that?

Wonderful, beautiful episode. This episode, and the arc as a whole, felt truly cinematic. Which, as a Star Wars property, is the highest compliment I can give it. Dave Filoni and crew should be proud. It also reinforces in my mind that George Lucas is a master storyteller and that he found his true niche as an off-hands mentor to other very talented people.

Are we to assume that if Ahsoka had rejoined the order she would have attained the level of Jedi Knight? I know that Anakin was handing her back her "braid" but it felt more symbolic of him giving back her Jedi-ism than her becoming his padawan again. Also, Ki-Adi Mundi did say that her actions displayed the qualities that a Jedi Knight needed to have and Mace said she passed her great trial.

Ahsoka's decision to leave the order came as a shock, but would have been more effective if the council hadn't started off the episode, you know by making her leave the order. The impact of her not being a Jedi anymore occurs at the beginning of the episode. Basically trying to repeat that at the end was a bit redundant, lacking the emotional heft it should have had. That's not terribly effective use of the twist, but it's not my biggest problem with the episode.

Now, saying it was a shock doesn't mean I particularly liked it. The real problem for me is that having Asohka leave of her own volition is a major, major waste of dramatic potential. It feels like a total cheat on a couple of levels. If they leave her story there (which I really doubt - she bascially says she has to go figure some stuff out, which is less like "farewell" than "we'll see her prodded back within the first few episodes of S6).

If Ahsoka's story DOES end there, it is an almost inconceivable waste of the drama that's been in the BG since the begining - she 'aint around in the OT, so how do things play out for Anakin if he has to not only turn against his father figure, but also his daughter figure?

Alternatively, how does Ahsoka's presumed death play into his decision to turn against the council? Oh, actually she just quit? Well, I guess she wasn't much of an impact on him at all then. It's a MASSIVE wasted dramatic potential for Anakin to simply take Ahsoka off the table altogether. It also robs the Mortis arc of some of its power because when Son tells Ahsoka that Anakin is going to ruin her, we now know "mmm... welp, nope" -there's no threat there anymore.

Further the whole thing feels like a cheat to a) get Asohka past Order 66 so she can be around for future use and b) do it in a way that is a total cop-out 'reset button' for her. Think about it, she's essentially back to where we met her - a blank that future writers can impose anything on. Maybe she stayed out and is in the moral grey area now, maybe she returned to the order and we just never saw that; it's reads to me as a cheap way to make a popular character available again for future marketing opportunities, whatever those might be.

Anyways, the thing just fell flat for me, coupled with some frustration. Oh, and Padme? Reeee-heh-heh-he-heeeealy? What, was Filoni thinking the same thing I was: "where the hell has Padme been for the past several seasons? Isn't Anakin's marriage at all important to him? Isn't this why he turns in the end? Don't we need to know what she's been up to?"? Regardless, PADME is your defense attorney? Isn't that like having Pamela Wallin defend you at your murder/treason trial? Just WTF?!

[spoil]I thought it was an interesting move to use Barriss Offee like that. She hasn't had a great deal of screen-time on the show (certainly nothing significant since the Geonosis arc), and handing this to her character is pretty irreversible. As the series approaches the end of the war, it's easy enough to put any EU references to Barriss before this point (which I understand it meant to be the case anyway), and to a certain degree, it works as an extension of her experiences with addiction and the Dark Side in the Medstar novels.

But I guess it also means that this scene from Order 66 in the RotS comic adaptation is now void...
...because there's no way the Jedi could allow her to resume 'active service', even if she cleared whatever trial awaits her.
[/spoil]

I know there are ends to tie up in the series, and more stories to tell (and apart from anything else, Anakin's hair has some growing to do before the start of EpIII), but if Clone Wars does end here, I'll still be very, very happy. Still, Filoni and the voice-cast have said (albeit not directly) that they've still been working on episodes relatively recently, and given the lead-time I suspect that means new eps in some form or another.[/align]

Oh, and that bullshit with the council at the end made me want to see someone take a lightsabre to most of them in the very near future; "Whoops, heheh, well, really, this was...A test! Yes! A BRILLIANT TEST of you! Well done, Asohka, now you can be a knight! Victory for ZIM!". Fuck you, Mace, I hope someone pushes you out a window.

I too thought Ahsoka would be Knighted. It would’ve been a clean logical ending which would have taken Ahsoka in a new direction within the series. Instead, Filoni went with something more creative and challenging.

After five years, the series earned the emotional payoff of Anakin and Ahsoka’s farewell. Coincidentally, Kasdan recently talked about the humanity of the OT - “The first three, ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Empire’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ are all sort of more about people than the ones that followed.” With that standard, this episode's ending was a very OT-like moment.

In the featurette, Filoni discussed a couple of differences between his and Lucas’s vision of the show. In the end, it seems that Filoni won out over George with this episode. Funnily enough, the credits fade made the final cut the same way Kershner got “I know” into Empire: he just stick it in and hoped George would be okay with it.

To me, it seems that Filoni’s contributions to the show include a focus on characters’ relationships, reverential OT and PT motifs, deference to the EU (when it doesn’t get in the way of specific story elements of an episode), allusions to modern Sci-fi films, cinematic staging in creatively designed environments, and unique action set pieces.

In addition to conceptualizing and steering the overall arcs, I think Lucas contributes both small and large story elements. Smaller elements include stock serial dialogue, dark humor, dramatically ironic situations, and classic film allusions. Larger elements include explorations on sociological or mythological philosophies.

Out of all the prior episodes, I thought this one was much more tilted toward Filoni than to Lucas. In turn, it could signify that Lucas is letting go with the series and will have less input in whatever future form the shows takes.

Alexrd wrote:

P.S: Why no Luminara? I would love to see her reaction.

She's probably a victim of the run time. Her reactions could probably take up a third of the episode (at the least).

juicemonkey wrote:

I strongly believe she will return as the main CGI character in episode VII. She is way to popular to never be heard of again. They are lining her up.

Maybe; may be not. Lucas could reinstate an amended plot point from Empire: Luke needs to find his absentee sister who is somewhere in the galaxy. Though, I suppose that Ahsoka is more of an aunt than a surrogate sister to the Skywalker children. (Plus, Savage has already acted out this idea on the show.)

CoGro wrote:

The only real "loose end" created by the show now is Maul.

CommanderBly wrote:

I dunno. I find other things that should be resolved too such as:

Rex: The series was not planned during the development and filming of RotS, but Anakin can simply say that Rex was transferred to Kamino to be a training instructor or he is off fighting the Separatists with his detachment unit from the 501st.

Bo Katan & Mandalore: A civil war was going on when we last left off on. It would be nice to see the outcome. What if Bo Katan became the new Duchess?

Boba Fett: Hondo has the Slave 1 and Boba got captured and tricked by Assajj at the end of that one episode.

Zillo Beast: Palpatine ordered it to be cloned, soooo what is after that?

Other outstanding areas include the matter of a new clone template and a resolution on Mother Talzin’s final plan.

What’s been discussed regarding future (and possibly completed) episodes includes the two Clovis shows, a revelation of how much Obi-wan knows about Anakin and Padme, a Boba and Cad Bane team-up story, James Arnold Taylor and a guest voice actor appearing in an episode, an arch that explains Dooku’s motivations, a return to the Force concepts discussed in the Mortis arch, an episode featuring Fives, and possibly the return of Echo.

heels1785 wrote:

Nice touch at the end having Plo Koon hold Obi-Wan back from pursuing Anakin out of the Council Room.

A master attempting to follow his former student who is now a knight following his former student. Who's idea - Lucas' or Filoni's?

Inv8r wrote:

- It also robs the Mortis arc of some of its power because when Son tells Ahsoka that Anakin is going to ruin her, we now know "mmm... welp, nope" -there's no threat there anymore.

Further the whole thing feels like a cheat to a) get Asohka past Order 66 so she can be around for future use and b) do it in a way that is a total cop-out 'reset button' for her. Think about it, she's essentially back to where we met her - a blank that future writers can impose anything on. Maybe she stayed out and is in the moral grey area now, maybe she returned to the order and we just never saw that; it's reads to me as a cheap way to make a popular character available again for future marketing opportunities, whatever those might be.

Anyways, the thing just fell flat for me, coupled with some frustration. Oh, and Padme? Reeee-heh-heh-he-heeeealy? What, was Filoni thinking the same thing I was: "where the hell has Padme been for the past several seasons? Isn't Anakin's marriage at all important to him? Isn't this why he turns in the end? Don't we need to know what she's been up to?"? Regardless, PADME is your defense attorney? Isn't that like having Pamela Wallin defend you at your murder/treason trial? Just WTF?!

Oh, and Tim Curry was appallingly awful - just dreadful.

It was implied that he could ruin her not that he definitively would. The same elements are played up with Luke in the OT.

I think the ending provides more of challenge than the obvious choice of killing or reinstating her. It's definitely not a total reset; she has a lot of emotional baggage.

The Clovis arch was going to deal with Anakin and Padme's relationship.

I liked Curry much better upon second viewing. He gives a good performance, but not necessarily a good performance as Palpatine.

Paul_Calf wrote:

But I guess it also means that this scene from Order 66 in the RotS comic adaptation is now void.....because there's no way the Jedi could allow her to resume 'active service', even if she cleared whatever trial awaits her.

The series has a "love-ignore" relationship with the EU. As I said earlier, Filoni actively tries to incorporate EU concepts into the show. But, when George or script elements require a divergence for dramatic purposes, the EU gets trumped.

With this episode, Barris' life story gets revised. But, at the same, Filoni sneaks into the canon Jedi Temple Guards with their EU traditional dual yellow lightsabers. Consequently, the canonization of yellow lightsabers is an inner-nerd dream come true for me. Child E_CHU_TA! loved his Kenner Tatooine Luke and used to whip around a yellow wiffle ball bat pretending it was a laser sword.

The series has a "love-ignore" relationship with the EU. As I said earlier, Filoni actively tries to incorporate EU concepts into the show. But, when George or script elements require a divergence for dramatic purposes, the EU gets trumped.

Oh, absolutely. I wasn't suggesting that Barriss' storyline was purposefully mindful of Medstar, only co-incidentally so. The whole Piell debacle underlines the "love-ignore" situation. There was no real reason that Piell couldn't have been some Redshirt. The same goes for Barriss, for that matter.

Having left it a few days (without re-watching any of the arc), the idea of Offee's actions is starting to sit wrong with me. There's certainly plenty to explore with a trial/sentencing story (either in whatever form the next season takes, or a comic/novel version of events), but the lack of buildup for her motivations seems very out of kilter.

Other outstanding areas include the matter of a new clone template and a resolution on Mother Talzin’s final plan.

What’s been discussed regarding future (and possibly completed) episodes includes the two Clovis shows, a revelation of how much Obi-wan knows about Anakin and Padme, a Boba and Cad Bane team-up story, James Arnold Taylor and a guest voice actor appearing in an episode, an arch that explains Dooku’s motivations, a return to the Force concepts discussed in the Mortis arch, an episode featuring Fives, and possibly the return of Echo.

The voice actors have also commented on working on an episode or arc that explains Order 66.

I actually didn't like that. Specially because Filoni did it with a "let's hope he [Lucas] won't notice or give a damn." way of thinking.

Filoni is the same guy who didn't like the concept of Sith comingbackasghosts, but wanted to include Mandalorian Crusader art and yellow lightsaber blades. Lucas isn't the only one on the team who picks and chooses between EU stuff.

Big interview with Dave Filoni covering the entire season. His comments about the future of the how sound more optimistic than a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed!

Quote:

IGN: There are so many questions, obviously, about the future of the show, but back last summer at Celebration, you talked about work being done on Season 6. We know that there are completed episodes that we haven’t seen. Might we get an announcement one way or the other about when and where we’ll be seeing that, any time soon?

Filoni: [Laughs] Well, that’s the interesting part, this wait-and-see thing, I know, for fans. But there are more stories to tell, and as I’ve said, we’ve been working on them for awhile. I’ll be excited when we can share more details with you about that, but at this point, there isn’t really much I can say. Unfortunately, that’s all I can say. Sadly, for you guys. [Laughs] I see cool stuff every day… it’s totally unfair!

IGN: That’s very encouraging, because there are some more extreme rumors saying, “The show is over!” But I kept thinking, “But they’ve been making episodes, so that can’t be the case!”

Filoni: Right? Always in motion is the future. This is where I can be very vague and quizzical. [Laughs]

"It was implied that he could ruin her not that he definitively would. The same elements are played up with Luke in the OT.

I think the ending provides more of challenge than the obvious choice of killing or reinstating her. It's definitely not a total reset; she has a lot of emotional baggage.

The Clovis arch was going to deal with Anakin and Padme's relationship.

I liked Curry much better upon second viewing. He gives a good performance, but not necessarily a good performance as Palpatine."

Oh, I must be misremembering then, because I have this recollection of Son telling her essentially "you know your master is going to fuck you up, right?". I'll conceed on that point if my brain is just on the fritz again.

Well, if that's your read, you've got a right to it. For me though, SW is about gigantic, operatic melodrama, largely dependant on the inevitability of events. Asohka just taking her ball and going home feels like a gigantic mistep dramatically. There may be something (a little hamfisted) there about the council not trusting me, so why should I trust the council, but it doesn't seem to really hit home with Anakin like it should if we're supposed to be thinking about his frustration in RotS. Also, For HER it's more of a challenge, but the bigger picture is Anakin's inability to let go of ANYTHING, EVER. It was to try and force Anakin to get his shit together that the council assigned him a Padawan to begin with, no? So why, oh why, do you give him a daughter/little sister figure, then NOT brutally take that away from him and force the character to confront this flaw that will eventually destroy him? Or better yet, brutally force him to CHOOSE to destroy that? It just feels like a waste to me, and takes a safe way out. I mean, there's nothing irrevokable in Asohka's decision, no finality, and that means it ultimately isn't much of a sacrifice or choice at all - she can just walk on back in any time she feels like it. As a result, an opportunity to explore Anakin's reasoning for his eventual betrayal of the jedi (which is tragically underdeveloped in the PT - I'm not saying it's not there, but it's not explored as far as it needs to be) is tossed in favor of keeping a popular character, and incidentally a Disney Princess, around.

Wouldashouldacoulda. Clovis never aired, we have no clue what's been happening with Anakin and Padme. They made a call to remove Clovis from s5, and that has consequences, so no pass because they 'meant to get around to it'. My bigger beef with that whole thing is 'WHY IS PADME ACTING AS A DEFENSE ATTORNEY AT A TREASON HEARING?". She's a senator, and close to Asohka personally. If the jedi are so worried about appearances that they kick Asohka out of the order to stand military trial, why do they get a friend of hers to defend her? Why do they get a policy maker and politician and NOT THE BEST GODDAMN LAWYER ON CORUSCANT? What, in short, are Padme's qualifications to defend charges of treason and murder? It's bogus, and shoehorns Padme in because...well, because we haven't seen her in a long time.

Anyways, as I said earlier, I'm convinved Asohka will be back within the first few episodes of s6 (of, and that there will BE a s6) so all of this is academic

I agree that Padme being the defender (and, by extension, Tarkin being prosecutor) were for audience reasons and aren’t logical. After Ahsoka’s full story has been told, we’ll have to see how Mortis and her leaving ultimately fits (or doesn’t).

Alexrd wrote:

E_CHU_TA! wrote:

Consequently, the canonization of yellow lightsabers is an inner-nerd dream come true for me.

I actually didn't like that. Specially because Filoni did it with a "let's hope he [Lucas] won't notice or give a damn." way of thinking.

I’ll take it any way I can get. But, if it makes you feel better, the yellow sabers aren’t really a statistic factor. For example, if there are 500 Jedi in the galaxy, less than 2% of the lightsabers are not either blue or green (yellow = 6; 6 / 500 = 1.2%). Plus, the encyclopedia entry for Jedi Temple Guards describes yellow crystals as “rare.”

Regardless, in the IGN interview, Filoni hinted at possible new colors for Asajj and Ahsoka. Yellow may only be the beginning.